Voting-machine.



PATENTED APR. 2, 1907.

A. J. GILLESPIE.

VOTING MACHINE.

7 APPLICATION FILED AUG.30,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IIIIIMMWH Win/E5355, /NVENTOR A TTORNEY.

No.-849,123. PATENTED APR. 2, 1907.

A. J. GILLBSPIE.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.30,1904..

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

M w m WITNESSES: 1'NVENTOR I v Wuk ATTORNEY.

UNITEDSTATES I P TENT OFFICE.

* ALFRED J. GILLESPIE, or ATLANTIQ'I'IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO U. s. STANDARD ROCHESTER. NEW. YORK, 'A coRPo VOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF RATION or NEW YORK.

VOTING-MACHINE.

I tion, and to the'referencenumerals marked thereon. 4

' lily present invention relates to that class i of voting-machines employing straight-ticket mechanism, or devices whereby all the indi- I cators devoted to different candidates nomi-" nated' by the same political. party inayf be moved 'to' voted position at a single operation, and has f orits object to provide means where? by machines adapted fora large number of candidates may be used when comparatively few candidatesare' nominated Without the necessity ofoperating the straight-ticket mechanism, which is adapted onlyffor' the larger number of candidates; and to this end it con-,

5 sists in certain improvements hereinafter more specifically described, the novel features?- being pointed out in the claimsatthe end of the specification.

The invention'is shown as applied to ama- 0 ,chine of the class contained in my prior patent, No. 647,657, the principal'variation, ex-. cep't'ing for the invention hereinafter de scribed, being that insteadof arranging the ballot-indicators devoted to candidate'sof the 3 5 same politicalpart invertical lines said indi & cators are arrange in horizontal linesand are moved vertically instead of horizontally into voted position, the devices for operating the indicators of all the candidates for the differ- 1 0 ent political parties being located at the endof the horizontal row of indicators.

. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is 'a front view-of a portion of the keyboard of'a-- votingemachine provided with my improvements, one of the straight-'ticketfhandles or indicators being shown in an abnormal posi-- 'stion iniull lines and in dotted lines in a posi .tion which itoccupies when indicatinga vote 1 K -i"or all'the candidates devoted to that 'par 59 ticular party. Fig. 2 is a rear view of "the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a rear view of a sectional straight-ticket bar with one of Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed August so, 1904. semi No. 222,697.

,neath them;

new extensively priorpatent; No. 628,905, which require that a Patented April 2, law.

the sectiohs disconnected. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rear'portion of a votingmachine provided with my improvements,- showing means as for retain ng and ln'surlng proper operation of the-s'traight ticket bars.

Flg. 5, is a view of an operating-tool employed for'disconnecting the sections of the straightticket bar. Fig. 6 is a perspectivevieW of" the rear of the machine, showing the mannerof disconnectingthe bars. Fig.7 is a sec- .tional view on the line am; of Fig. 4. Similar reference-numerals 1n the" several.

figures indicate similar parts.

f The ballot indicators or keys shown in the drawings are substantially the same as those contained in my prior patent, being mounted machine and having at the front of said plate the'operating handles or-portions land at, the rear the arms 3',=carrying the segmental;

to turn in bearings in the front plate 1 of the j 7 plates 4, adapted to cooperate with the hooked ends of the actuators 5 oi the counters, and

also connected with the interlocking rods, which latter, however, are not shown herein. These keys or indicators are also rovided with lugsor .projections 6, with w ich the straight-ticket bars-are adapted to cooperate to cause the movement to voted osition of the line of keys devoted to candi ates nominated by the same party. The forward portion 2 of the keyis adapted to project overthe label or tie a bearing the candidates name and arrangedin the label-holders .7 be- Thestraight-ticket ,bars in my present hoachinefinstead of being made of a single piece of material, as heretofore, are each composed of -'a number of sections, three be ing shown in the present instance, capable of connection so that the-bars may be moved as a unit when all of the indicators of a horizontal line. are in use, said sections being, how

ever, capable of disconnection, so that one or more may be employed ii' a smaller number of offices are to be provided-for and Without the necessity, therefore, one era-ting all of the indicators the party: ine. This ca' pacity of the machine 1s particularly useful inconnection with. that class of machines infuse and described in my straight:ticket mechanism be operated becomposed of. three sections,,(indicated' by more easily and enables me also to use the 'ing provided with hooks or detachable conway.' It is also possible to leave, for examfore the machine'is interlocked to permit the 1' separate actuation of the individual-candi- 'date indicators.

. In the present embodiment of my inven tion'I have shownthe straight-ticket. bars as 8 8f 8",) the adj aceIit ends of .the sections benections, which insure the' positive move ment of all'thesections in a direction to actuate the indicators to permit the disconnec tion of one or more of the sections when not in use. i

As is shown in Figs. .2 and 3, the forward end of the second and all subsequent sections. of the straight-ticket bar is provided with a hook 9, andthe rear end of the adjacent section ahead of it is provided with a corresponding hook 10, which hooks9 and 10 are so related as to engage each otherand hold connected the sections of which they are a part. 1 Each of these sections 8 and 8" are recessed at- 11 to permit the bar to rise without interfering with or being interfered, with by. the pivots 12 of the links 13. It is apparent that the straight-ticket key '14: is connected to the first bar by means of a crank 15, and the other end of this first section of the bar is supported by a link 13-, -befo're. referred to.-

The second section 8 of i the straightticket bar is supported at its forward end by the rear end of the preceding bar and its rear end by the link 13, and each succeeding bar is supported in like manner. I preferably arrange these bars in length so that a single section will engage with ten keys, and the last section is divided into two .parts, so that each of its portions will engage with five keys. Thus five, ten, twenty, or thirty keys maybe thrown out of action ina machine that is iorty keys long, which of course makes the straight-ticket key move correspondii'igly keys which are thus rendered idle for voting for candidates which must benominated by petition independent of parties,- itbeing irequently thecase that .such candidates must be-voted for in thesame elec'tionwhere'iull party tickets are put in nomination for other offices the candidates for which are nominated b'y party convention in the ordinary ple, five of thestraight ticket bars connected up through their full length, disconnecting a portion ofthe sections of the sixth and seventh-straight tickets in a machine having seven rows, for. instance.

It sometimes'happens that four or five parties will nominate full tickets, which will occu y approximately the whole length of the reyboard, and the sixth and seventh parties in a seven-row machine will only nominate a 'State ticket, which of course would come at the head of the keyboard and I middle key.

bar, however, is made removable, and whenv may be composed of but eightior ten candidates. If there is then an extra party or two in the field nominating candidates by petition for some of the minor local oflices, I can place thesecondidates on the sixthor seventh party-rows in the lines of the oflices for which they are running, thus enabling me to provide for eight or "nine parties, such as are frequently found in' an election on a seven'party machine;

The sections of the straight-ticket bar'are connected or disconnected in the following "manner: The crank 11 of-the straight-ticket key carries the pin 14, which projects through the first section of the straight-ticket bar, and

the section of the straight-ticket bar may be secured on this pin by means of a cotter-pin or any other suitable device; The straightticket keys 'or actuators 15. are normally held in the position indicated by the top and bottom straight-ticket keys in Fig. 1, and they are held in this position by a bar 16, (shown in Fig. 4,) which-passes immediately behind the cranks of the straight-ticket keys on the rear of the keyboard. As long as this bar is in position the straight-ticket keys are prevented from assuming the position of the (Shown in Figs. 1 and 2.) This removed thestraight-ticket keys can then assume the position indicated by the middle key in Figs. 1 and 2. When the bar is so removed and it is desired to disconnect one or more of the sections of any of the straightticket bars, the straight ticket is first pulled to voted position, throwing the small keys down to voted osition on the front of the keyboard and raising the parts corresponding to them on the back of the keyboard. The

straight-ticket key is then turned to the position in which the middle key is' shown in full lines in Fig. 1, thus taking the end of the last section from under the pivot 12 of the link 13,'af t'er which the hooked end of the section that is to be disconnected is-raised and the section and all to the left of it pushed back and held in this position by a pawl 17 or other suitable securing device engaging the last section.

stood that both sections 8 and 8* could be disconnected in a similar manner from section 8, the pivot-holding section 8", while section 8 would be movedand held with it. If it is desired to disconnect thesections of any other straight-ticket keys, it is first nec vessary to reset the small or candidate keys to release the interlocking mechanism, aswill be understood, so that any other straightticketrkeymay-be placed in votedposition the sections of the bar of which it is desired to disconnect. When all of the disconnections are made'that are desired, the straigh iticket keys may be held in their normal position and the bar 13 returned to its proper I have shown only the last section 8" disconnected; but it will be under' place, which will'prevent the straight-ticket keys reaching or assuming the position shown by the middle key in Fig. 1. As long as the straight-ticket keys are held from assuming this position the hook 9 of each of the detachable sections must come under the pivot 12 of the link 13, which prevents it from raising to disengage itself from the for- Ward section'that is, it cannot lift up sufficiently to disengage itself. The link 13 also laps over both the adjacent ends of the forward and rear sections, preventing them 1 from' disengaging laterally. It will thus be seen that I have provided aready and eiiective wayior connecting or disconnecting the various sections of a straight-ticketbar which can be applied to a machine of any length; It is understood that these-straightticket bars are ordinarily concealed by the counter-channels 20, such as are described in my previous applications; but there is a small space between each of those channels, throughwhich a thin piece of steel can be in;

se'rted toraise the section that it is desired to disconnect, thus making it aceessible witli outigaking the machine apart. tool suitable for this isshown in Fig.5, (indicated 21,) the manner of using it being also indicated in Fig. 6. v a

The sections areconnected by placing all the keys on the party-row in voted position, then by placing the straight-ticket key in the position indicated by'themiddle key in full lines in Fig. 1. Thenthe section that is to be connected is disconnected from the'pawl. l7,

and the hookedend raised by-the tool 21, the

section moved--to the right again, the outerend being free from the counter-channels, as in Fig. 6, when the hooked ends will become engaged before. As soon as the straightticket key is turned to normal position and the bars looked, as before, by( the bar 16 the accidental disengagement of the sections will be prevented.

The bar 16 maybe locked in positionbyany desired. form of securing device; but I prefer to provide it with. several keyholeslots 22, through which project headed pins as, the construction being such that the bar can only be removed when raised to bring the heads of the pins in line with the larger aper tnres. To prevent this upward movement of the bar, the latter is provided with a springarm 24, having an aperture fitting over anploying a spring 33, connected to the stationary pin 25, as shown in Fig. 4. The bar may also serve to operate a suitable alarm mechanism to indicate that the straight-ticket mechanism has been actuated.

I claim as my inventioni. In a voting-machine, the combination with a casing, and a plurality of movable ballot-indicators therein, of a laterally-movable straight-ticket bar adapted to cooperate with the indicators and composed of independently-supported sections, means for coupling the sections for simultaneousoperation and an actuating member attachedpermanently.

i .80 2. In a voting-machine, the combination with a casing, and a plurality of movable bal-- to one of the sections.

lot-indicators therein, of a laterally-rno'vable straight-ticketbar adaptedto cooperate the indicatorsto move them to voted position composed of 'independently supported sections, means for coupling-said sections for simultaneous operation and an operating.

means connected to one Of'SiLld SGCtIODS EtIId.

independent of the coupling means for o eratingsuch of the sections as maybe coup ed.

' 3 In a-votingmachine, the combination with a casing, and a p'lur'ality of movable bale lot-indicators therein, of I a laterally-movable bar for operating said indicators composed of independently-supported sections, each .sec-

tion 'adapted'to cooperatewith ,a definite number of indicators, said sections being ro-" vided with interlocking parts for coup ing them directly and an actuating device for enact the sections.

4. The combination with a plurality of ballot-indicators, of an operating member therefor composediof a plurality of sections,-

each independently supported at one end only and detachablyconnected to the adjacent sectionat the other;

5. The combination with'a plurality or tn:

lot-indicators, of an operating member therefor composed of a pluralityof sections, hav-- ing detachable hooks at the ends for engaging adj acent sections and supporting-links for'oneend of each section.

6 The combination with a pluralityof ballot-indicators of a longitudinally and laterally movable member for operating them composed of detachable sections each section cooperating 'with difierent indicators.

7. The combination with a plurality of ballot-indicators of a movable operating member therefor composed of sections capable of separation when moved to an abnormal position and means for limiting the normal movement of said member.

8. The combination with a plurality of bal- I lot-indicators, of a movable operating member therefor composed of a plurality of sectionscapable ofseparation'when moved to an abnormal position means for limiting the normal movement of said member and means for retaining disconnected sections out of cooperative relation with the others.

a 9. Theco'mbination with a plurality of balballot-indicators, of an operating memberthereforcom osed of a plurality ofsections one section t ereof being supported at both ends, the other sections supported at one end only, detachableconnections between the adjacent ends of the s'ections'andmeans'for" holding-the sections outofcooperative rela tion with the firstsmentioned section,

12. The combination with a pluralityof ballot-indicators, of. an operating member therefor co n osed of a pluralityof detachable sections aving engaging hooks at their adjacent ends, link s support ng sections, andmeans for limiting the movementof the 'op crating-member in onedirection; v V V 13. The'combination with a plurality of therefor composed of a plurality of detachable sections having engaging. hooks at-their adjacent ends-movable meansjfor limiting the movement of the. member in' one direction and means for. holding the detachable sections out of cooperative relationwith-the.

others.

14, The combination with a, plurality of for operating said bars and means 'for' holding the detached sections of, the barsout of cooperativerelationwith the others.

15. In a voting machin'e an operating member consisting of aplurality of sections detachably connected at their adjacent ends in combinatlonwith meansfor operating one of the sections and means for holding the othersections out of cooperative relation with the l ormer.

member composed of a plurality ofsections, one section having two supporting-linkscon- .nected thereto, and the other sections each having one supportingdink and cooperating projections and recesses, means for limiting the movement of the first section and retaining devices for holding the other sections out of engagement therewith. r

"17. The, combination with a plurality of series of indicators, a plurality of members each composed Cffl plurality of sections capable of disconnection when moved to an ab-i normal position and means for preventing the movement of all the members to said abnormal position. 18. In a voting-machine the combination with balioteindicators, ol a laterally and longitudina ly movable operating member thereforanda vertically-movable bar with which said operating member cooperates.

19. In a voting-machine the combination with a plurality of series of ballot indicators, ofa plurality oflongitudinally and laterally movableoperating members one for each series and a vertically-movable bar ha ving projections thereon With which said members cooperate. j i

20. In a voting-maehin'e-the combination with a plurality of series ofballot-indicators, v a plurality "of laterally and longitudinally ballot-indicators, oi an operating member movable operating members one for each series having the beveled ends and the vertically-movable bar having projections with which said beveled ends engage when the members are movedto one position.

" 21., The combination with a plurality of series ofballot-indicators, of a plurality of 'operating'members one for each series and each composed of sections detachable when moved to an abnormal position and a removbers and prevent the movement to detaching position.

ALFRED J. GILLESPIE.

Witnesses: I JAMES B. BRUFF, J. E. GrLLnsrIn.

l6. The'eombination with the operating able lockingibar adapted to engagethe mem- 

